Verified Document

Impact Of Telemedicine In Social Work Research Paper

Health Care Advancement and Trend paper

Telemedicine

Over the past year and a half, the healthcare industry has faced unprecedented disruption due to the COVID- pandemic. The healthcare industry's technology has been growing slowly in the past. However, there was a need for rapid innovation to deal with the pandemic. Telemedicine is the provision of remote healthcare services using real-time two-way communication (Calton, Abedini, & Fratkin, 2020; Yenikomshian et al., 2019). The patient and healthcare provider will make use of audio and visual communication tools. With the advancement of 5G-enabled devices, which offer reliable real-time connections, telemedicine will get a huge boost by eliminating the current hurdles based on technology or the connection's speed (Nittari et al., 2020). It would be possible for healthcare workers to deliver fast care without disruption, even in rural areas. With more connected devices, there is the possibility of revolutionizing the healthcare system using telemedicine (Schneider, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has ensured an increase in telemedicine uptake within the industry, and patients are more receptive to the technology.

Telemedicine comes in the form of phone calls or video chat, where the healthcare provider will offer advice to patients based on the symptoms the patient describes (Calton et al., 2020). The doctor does not get to physically see the patient, which increases the number of patients a doctor can see in a day. Telemedicine also allows patients to access medical services even when they are located in remote areas. Eliminating the need for patients to physically visit a healthcare facility reduces the patient's time commuting to the hospital and waiting in line to see the doctor. Telemedicine reduces healthcare costs by ensuring healthcare facilities do not need to have large waiting areas for their patients. Patients can access medical services even when the facility is closed.

Highly personalized apps are being developed that allow patients to speak virtually with their physician or other healthcare providers. The patient can receive medical advice and instant diagnosis using these apps. For patients with chronic conditions, telemedicine is a lifesaver. The patient can receive instant advice, and they do not need to visit the hospital for treatment physically. Considering how oversubscribed healthcare services are, a chronic patient would end up spending hours waiting to see a doctor. However, the patient does not need to leave his house to see a doctor due to technology.

For social workers, telemedicine will allow a social worker to interact with numerous clients in a single day compared to physically visiting each client (Schneider, 2020). Increasing the outreach to patients improves the delivery of care. We can identify health problems early with improved care, and patients can receive the care they need before the disease progresses (Nittari et al., 2020). In nursing, telemedicine will reduce nurses' workload, as they can remotely monitor patients and receive alerts when a patient's vitals are abnormal. With the monitoring system in place, the nurse can focus on other patients instead of hanging around a single patient. Nurses can also offer services to patients remotely and reduce the number of patients who have to visit a healthcare facility physically.

Remote patients will benefit the most. Getting healthcare services in remote areas is tricky, and most healthcare organizations do not have facilities in remote areas (Abbatemarco et al., 2021). Therefore, the people living in such areas have to travel long distances to access medical services. However, with telemedicine, they can now access medical services easily and not have to travel long distances to see a doctor. Service delivery will improve, and the health outcomes of...

…the needy in the communities. The safety of the social worker should be ensured at all times, and working in a hostile environment can result in the social worker losing focus or being demoralized.

The Role of The Social Worker in Implementing Telemedicine

Social workers understand telemedicine better than their clients. The role of the social worker would be first to educate their clients regarding telemedicine (Knickman & Elbel, 2019). Using this information, the social worker can demonstrate the advantages of using the technology and benefit the client. The client's pain points should be addressed, and alternatives are given when the overall mode of delivery might be unavailable. In most cases, the social worker will have to encourage the clients to adopt the new technology. If the clients do not start using telemedicine, it would be useless to try and implement it in the office. Social workers become change champions for their clients. Change champions advocate for the use of technology and the need for change. Increasing awareness and adoption will be the role of the social worker. Awareness is increased by informing the clients about the technology and letting them know how it will improve the client's lives.

Encouraging adoption allows the client to easily seek and receive the same services as before without the hassle of travelling and waiting in line (Brigo et al., 2020). The social worker will be charged with engaging the clients and even demonstrating how to use telemedicine. Since the social worker will be using telemedicine with the client, they must ensure they know and understand how to open and interact with the application. Troubleshooting problems with the application is another role the social worker will have to undertake to increase implementation. The social worker will be the point person for the client. Therefore, it will be their…

Sources used in this document:

References


Abbatemarco, J. R., Hartman, J., McGinley, M., Bermel, R. A., Boissy, A., Chizmadia, D. T., . . . Rensel, M. R. (2021). Providing Person-Centered Care via Telemedicine in the Era of COVID-19 in Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Patient Experience, 8, 2374373520981474.


Adams, J. L., Myers, T. L., Waddell, E. M., Spear, K. L., & Schneider, R. B. (2020). Telemedicine: a valuable tool in neurodegenerative diseases. Current geriatrics reports, 9(2), 72-81.


Brigo, F., Bonavita, S., Leocani, L., Tedeschi, G., & Lavorgna, L. (2020). Telemedicine and the challenge of epilepsy management at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Epilepsy & Behavior, 110.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Social Justice Social Work Value/Social Justice- for
Words: 1665 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Social Justice Social Work Value/Social Justice- For centuries, philosophers have puzzled the human condition. Since humans have lived together there have been queries about how and why humans acts the way they do, not just individually, but how they form partnerships, groups and are able to cooperate enough for survival and the future possibilities for society. In particular. As technology continues to increase, so do the complexities of societal integration, and

Social Work Framework a Framework to Social
Words: 1379 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Social Work Framework A framework to social work practice is based on a set of beliefs and assumptions about how, when, and under what conditions people and systems change and what a social worker can do to facilitate desired and needed change, such as speaking out and raising awareness of child abuse, how to report it, and how to get help. There are always underlying issues to human suffering, such as

Social Work and Political Advocacy
Words: 661 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Social workers often have commitments to specific policies, laws, or funding of programs that are vital to the population they serve or an issue that they strongly support. Such commitments often lead social workers to become involved in political issues and the campaigns of specific candidates. Being a social worker, such campaign experiences, the outcomes of your efforts, and how effective you felt you were may affect your view of

Telemedicine: Will Telemedicine Improve the Quality of
Words: 7147 Length: 22 Document Type: Term Paper

Telemedicine: Will telemedicine improve the quality of healthcare and its delivery for remotely located advanced healthcare para-professionals? The basic purpose of this study is to discuss whether telemedicine will improve the quality of health care and it's delivery for remotely located advanced health care para-professionals. The scope of the study is over seeing as it covers the implication of implementation of telemedicine as a professional genre. It would also show how the

Telemedicine Information Systems Evolution Paper
Words: 1202 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

The greater availability of patient records can make it easier to create false claims, through electronic tampering. This is yet another risk of telemedicine, which must be guarded against through encryption and proper security infrastructure. Selling patient information to external entities? People with long-term diseases like diabetes, or even those only genetically predisposed to genetic conditions, could be denied job opportunities or refused health insurance "if information stolen from data banks

Telemedicine Choose a Rural Telecommunications
Words: 626 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Barring this, however, clinics can still offer doctors incentives to come to underserved areas. First of all, doctors can be offered greater autonomy in dispensing patient care than the burdensome oversight they might experience in a large hospital. Less bureaucracy, less red tape, and a less punishing schedule are all reasons that doctors might wish to relocate to a rural area to work in a clinic. In contrast to

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now